Rainbow district further lifts backflow device requirement

FALLBROOK —— The Rainbow Municipal Water District decided
Wednesday that new homeowners in the district will not be required
to install "backflow devices" that keep a customer's water from
retreating into main water lines.

The board voted last month to end the requirement for existing
homeowners. The reduced-pressure backflow devices had previously
been mandated by the water district as a way to protect the water
supply from possible contamination; now only agricultural and
commercial customers will be required to install the devices.

During its meeting Wednesday, Rainbow's board of directors voted
3-2 against demanding that the devices be installed in newly
constructed homes, or homes for which a change of ownership has
occurred. Directors Bill Bopf of Division 3 and Bob Glick of
Division 5 voted in favor of requiring the devices.

District officials had said that contamination risk was greater
in new homes because of a North County Fire Protection ordinance
requiring all new construction in the area to have approved fire
sprinkler systems.

The sprinklers are connected to the public water supply and the
potable water in that system can become stagnant, creating a
potential hazard, according to a report prepared by the Rainbow
staff.

Still, Rainbow ratepayer Tom Warner told the board Wednesday
that he did not understand why it would consider making the
backflow devices mandatory.

"It's just illogical," Warner said at the meeting. "It doesn't
make sense. I guess it's government in action."

If, before the policy change, customers failed to install the
devices on their own, the district would complete the work for them
at a one-time charge ranging from $525 to $3,500, depending on the
size of the water meter and the type of water used.

In other business Wednesday, the board unanimously affirmed its
April 6 decision to instruct the water district's attorney to
negotiate an end to an agreement with Pardee Homes for the
construction of a sewage treatment plant —— it had become a
controversial issue —— near the San Luis Rey River.

Two water board members, Bopf and Glick, abstained from the
April 6 vote, saying they wanted to learn more about Rainbow's
options.

But recently, Glick said the district should immediately end the
deal and said he would raise the issue at Wednesday's meeting; the
board instead supported its own decision to negotiate an end to the
agreement.

The deal with Pardee Homes calls for the district to annex
Pardee's proposed Meadowood subdivision, to be built on 400 acres
east of Interstate 15, so that the district could provide service
to the 1,250 customers who would live there.

In exchange, Pardee would pay to build an $11 million wastewater
treatment plant near the San Luis Rey River and within Rainbow's
service area. The treatment plant, which would serve Meadowood
residents and about 1,465 current Rainbow customers, would be
turned over to Rainbow.

There has been strong opposition to plans for the treatment
plant, with critics raising concerns about the possibility of
pollution reaching the river.

Pardee officials have said repeatedly that the treatment plant
would not pollute the water supply.